The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning will today present to Parliament a draft budget law for the next fiscal year, paving the way for final approval by the House. Dr Uzziel Ndagijimana told Parliament last month that the next fiscal year’s budget will be domestically funded at 84 per cent. The Cabinet approved the draft budget during a meeting on Tuesday this week. The 2018/19 national budget is valued at Rwf2,443,535,804,386, which is a 16 per cent increase in comparison to the total budget for the current fiscal year. The next financial year starts July 1, 2018. The Government has given priority to areas that will maintain the country’s economic growth trajectory. With Rwanda’s economy expected to grow 7.2 per cent in 2018, officials at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning have said that they want to invest more in agriculture, services, and industry among areas that will receive significant funding in the next fiscal year. “We are continuing with our national priorities and most of the increase on the budget will go towards sectors that are a priority to the growth of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product),” Rehemah Namutebi, head of National Budget at the ministry told The New Times in an interview last month. A number of high-impact projects are expected to be implemented in the next fiscal year in different areas, including building schools and hospitals, empowering young people with hands-on skills to create jobs, and boosting organised urban and rural settlement. Today’s budget presentation in Parliament paves the way for the House’s final discussions on the bill, which will first be held at the level of the parliamentary Committee on National Budget and Patrimony in the next few days before parliamentarians can finally pass the budget bill into law. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
